Feasibility of Change: A Comparative Study of Educational Policies Affecting Flexibility in the Transfer Degree's General Education Requirements.

The general education requirements of 27 public community colleges and 9 state universities in Florida, as determined through a review of those institutions' catalogs, were compared with the general education requirements of Central Florida Community College (CFCC). Results showed CFCC's 39-hour requirement in general education to be more demanding than the general education requirements of the majority (78.5%) of community colleges and the majority (67%) of state universities. CFCC's nine-hour requirement in each of the areas of communications, humanities, and science was more demanding than the requirements of both community colleges and state universities. Its nine-hour requirement in social sciences was more demanding than the requirement of the majority of universities. CFCC's policy allowed no flexibility for electives in comparison to the majority of universities and 36% of the community colleges which made such provision. It was recommended that CFCC reduce from 39 to 36 the semester hours required for general education, and reduce from 9 to 6 the semester hours required in the areas of communications, humanities, social science, and science in order that students might take free electives congruent with the needs of their major programs. (Author/JDS)